>> this year marks the 20th anniversary of the september 11 attacks. join us for live coverage from new york, the pentagon, and chainsaw, pennsylvania starting saturday, september 11 on c-span. watch online at c-span.org or listen on the c-span radio app. >> president biden gave remarks on the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan, marking an end to the war effort 20 years. he spoke for just under 30 minutes.

the white house for remarks from president biden. pres. biden: last night in kabul , the united states ended 20 years of war in afghanistan, the longest war in american history. we completed one of the biggest air lives in history with more than 120,000 people evacuated to safety. that number is more than double what most experts thought were possible. no nation, no nation has ever done anything like it in all of history. only the united states had the capacity, the will, and the

ability to do it, and we did it today. the extraordinary success of this mission is due to the incredible skill, bravery, and selfless courage of the united states military and our diplomats and intelligence professionals. for weeks, they risked their lives to get american citizens, afghans who helped us, citizens of our allies and partners and others on board planes and out of the country. and they did it facing the crush of enormous crowds seeking to leave the country. and they did it knowing isis-k terrorists, sworn enemies of the taliban, were looking in the midst of those crowds. and still, the women and men of the united states military, our diplomatic corps, and intelligence professionals did their job and did it well, risking their lives not for professional gain, but to serve others. not an admission of war, but in

a mission of mercy. 20 service members were wounded in service of this mission. 13 heroes gave their lives. i was just at dover air force base for the dignified transfer. we owe them and their families a debt of gratitude we can never repay, but we should never, ever forget. in april, i made a decision to end this war. as part of that decision, we set the date of august 31 for american troops to withdraw. the assumption was that more than 300,000 afghan national security forces that we had trained over the past two decades and equipped would be a strong adversary in their civil wars with the taliban. that assumption, that the afghan government would be able to hold on for a period of time beyond military drawdown, turned out

not to be accurate. but i still instructed our national security team to prepare for every eventuality, even that one. and that's what we did. so were r -- we were ready when the afghan security forces, after two decades of fighting for their country and losing thousands of their own, did not hold on as long as anyone expected. we were ready when they and the people of afghanistan watched their own government collapse and the president flee. handing over the country to their enemy, the taliban, and significantly increasing the risk to u.s. personnel and our allies. as a result, to safely extract american citizens before august 31, as well as embassy personnel, allies, and partners, and those afghans have worked with us and fought alongside of

us for 20 years, i had authorized 6000 troops, american troops, to kabul to help secure the airport. as general mckenzie said, this is the way the mission was designed. it was designed to operate under severe stress and attack. and that is what it did. since march, we reached out 19 times to americans in afghanistan, with multiple warnings and offers to help them leave afghanistan. all the way back as far as march. after we started the evacuation 17 days ago, we did initial outreach and analysis, and identified around 5000 americans who had decided earlier to stay in afghanistan, but now wanted to leave. our operation allied rescue ended up getting more than 5500

americans out. we got out thousands of citizens and diplomats of those countries that went to afghanistan with us to get bin laden. we got out locally employed staff of the united states embassy and their families, totaling roughly 2500 people. we got thousands of afghan translators and interpreters and others who supported the united states out as well. now we believe that about 100 to 200 americans remain in afghanistan, with some intention to leave. most of those who remain are dual citizens, longtime residents who had earlier decided to stay because of their family roots in afghanistan. the bottom line, 90% of americans in afghanistan wanted to leave were able to leave. and for those remaining

americans, there is no deadline. we remain committed to get them out if they want to come out. secretary of state blinken is leading the continued diplomatic efforts to ensure safe passage for any american, afghan partner, or foreign national who wants to leave afghanistan. in fact, just yesterday the united nations security council passed a resolution that sent a clear message that while the international community expect the taliban to deliver on moving forward, notably freedom of travel, freedom to leave. together, we're joined by over 100 countries who are determined to make sure the taliban uphold those commitments. they will include ongoing efforts in afghanistan to reopen the airport, as well as overland routes allowing for continued

departure of those who want to leave, and deliver humanitarian assistance to the people of afghanistan. the taliban has made public commitments, broadcast on television and radio across afghanistan, on safe passage for anyone wanting to leave, including those who worked alongside americans. we don't take them by their word alone, but by their actions. and we have leveraged to make sure those commitments are met. let me be clear. leaving august 31 is not due to an arbitrary deadline. it was designed to save american lives. my predecessor, the former president, signed an agreement with the taliban to remove u.s. troops by may 1, just months after i was inaugurated. it included no requirement that the taliban work out a

cooperative government arrangement with the afghan government. but it did authorize the release of 5000 prisoners last year, including some of be taliban's top war commanders. among those who just took control of afghanistan. and by the time i came to office, the taliban was in its strongest military position since 2001. controlling or contesting nearly half of the country. the previous administration's agreement said that if we stuckj to the may 1 deadline, the taliban would not attack any american forces. but if we stayed, all bets were off. so we were left with a simple decision. eiler follow through by the commitment made by the last administration and leave afghanistan, or say we were not leaving and commit another tens

of thousands of more troops going back to war. that was the choice, the real choice, between leaving or escalating. i was not going to extend this forever war. and i was not extending a forever exit. the decision to end the military operations at kabul airport was based on unanimous recommendation of my civilian and military advisors. the secretary of state, the secretary of defense, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, and all the service chiefs, and the commanders in the field. their recommendation was that the safest way secure -- way to secure safe passage of americans another's out of the country was not to continue with 6000 troops on the ground in harm's way in kabul, butt o -- but to get them

out through nonmilitary means. in the 17 days we operated in kabul, after the taliban seized power, we engaged in an around-the-clock effort to provide every american the opportunity to leave. our state department was working 24/7, contacting and talking, and in some cases, walking americans into the airport. again, more than 5500 americans were airlifted out. and for those who remain, we will make arrangements to get them out if they so choose. as for the afghans, we and our partners have airlifted 100,000 of them. no country in history has done more to airlift out the residence of another country -- the residents of another country than we have done.

we will continue to work to help more people leave the country who are at risk. we are far from done. for now, i urge all americans to join me in grateful prayer for troops and diplomats and intelligence officers who carried out this mission of mercy in kabul, and a tremendous risk with unparalleled results. an airlift that evacuated tens of thousands. to a network of volunteers and veterans who helped identify those needing evacuation, guide them to the airport, and provided them with their support along the way. we are going to continue to need their help. we need your help, and i am looking forward to meeting with you. and to everyone who is now offering or who will offer to

welcome afghan allies to their homes around the world, including in america, we thank you. i take responsibility for the decision. now, some say we should have started mass evacuations sooner. and couldn't this have been done in a more early manner? i respectfully disagree. imagine we had begun evacuations in june or july, bringing thousands of american troops and evacuating more than 120,000 people in the middle of a civil war. there still would have been a rush to the airport. a breakdown in confidence and control of the government. and it still would have been very difficult and dangerous mission. the bottom line is there is no evacuation from the end of a war that you can run without the kinds of complexities,

challenges, and threats we face. none. to those who say we should have stayed indefinitely, for years on end, thery -- they ask, why don't we just keep doing what we were doing? why did we have to change anything? the fact is, everything had changed. my predecessor had made a deal with the taliban. when i came into office, we faced the deadline, may 1. the taliban onslaught was coming. we faced one of two choices. follow the agreement of the previous administration and extend it to have more time for people to get out. or send in thousands of more troops and escalate the war. to those asking for a third decade of war in afghanistan, i ask, what is the vital national

interest? and why do we only have one? to make sure afghanistan can never be used again to launch an attack on our homeland. remember what we went to afghanistan in the first place? because we were attacked by osama bin laden and al qaeda on september 11, 2001. and they were based in afghanistan. we delivered justice to bin laden on may 2, 2011. over a decade ago. al qaeda was decimated. i respectfully suggest you ask yourself this question. we've been attacked on september 11, 2001 from yemen, instead of afghanistan. would we have ever gone to war in afghanistan? even though the

taliban-controlled afghanistan in the year 2001? i believe the honest answer is no. that's because we had no vital interest in afghanistan other than to prevent an attack on america's homeland and our friends. and that's true today. we succeeded in what we set out to do in afghanistan over a decade ago. then we stayed for another decade. it was time to end this war. this is a new world. the terror threat has metastasized across the world, well beyond afghanistan. we face threats from al-shabaab in somalia, al qaeda affiliates in syria and the arabian peninsula, and isis attempting to create a calla fight in syria and iraq, and africa and asia. the fundamental obligation of a

president in my opinion is to defend and protect america. not against threats of 2001, but against the threats of 2021 and tomorrow. that is the guiding principle behind my decisions about afghanistan. i simply do not believe that the safety and security of americans is enhanced by continuing to deploy thousands of american troops and spending billions of dollars a year in afghanistan. but i also know that the threat from terrorism continues. in its pernicious and evil nature. but it's changed, expanded to other countries. our strategy has to change too. we will maintain the threat against terrorism in afghanistan and other countries. we just don't need to fight a ground war to do it.

we have what is called over the horizon capabilities, which means we can strike terrorists and targets without american boots on the ground. very few, if needed. we have shown that capacity just in the last week. we struck isis-k remotely, days after they murdered 13 of our service members, and dozens of innocent afghans. and to isis-k, we are not done with you yet. as commander-in-chief, i firmly believe the best path to guard our safety and our security lies in a tough, unforgiving, targeted, precise strategy that goes after terror where it is today, not where it was two decades ago. that's what in our national interest. and here's the critical thing to

understand. the world is changing. we're engaged in a serious competition with china. we're dealing with the challenges on multiple fronts with russia. we're confronted with cyber attacks and nuclear pleura version. -- proliferation. to meet these new challenges in a competition for the 21st century. and we can do both. fight terrorism, and take on new threats that are here now, and will continue to be here in the future. and there's nothing china or russia would rather have, would want more, than this competition, the united states to be bogged down for another decade in afghanistan. as we turn the page on the foreign policy that has guided our nation for the last two decades, we have got to learn

from our mistakes. to me, there are two that are paramount. first, we must set missions with clear, achievable goals. not ones we will never reach. and second, we must stay clearly focused on the fundamental national security interests of the united states of america. this decision about afghanistan is not just about afghanistan. it's about ending an era of major military operations to remake other countries. we saw a mission of counterterrorism in afghanistan. getting a terrorist and stopping attacks. it morphed into a counterinsurgency. nationbuilding. trying to create a democratic, cohesive, and united afghanistan. something that has never been done over many centuries of

afghan's history. moving on from that mindset and those kind of large-scale troop deployments will make us stronger and more effective and safer at home. and for anyone who gets the wrong idea, let me say clearly, to those who wish america harm, to those who engage in terrorism against us or our allies, know this. the united states will never rest. we will not forgive, we will not forget. we will hunt you down to the ends of the earth and he will pay the ultimate price -- and you will pay the ultimate price. let me be clear. we will continue to support the afghan people through diplomacy, international influence, and humanitarian aid. we will continue to push for regional engagements to end violence and instability. we will continue to speak out

for the basic rights of the afghan people, particularly women and girls, as we speak out for women and girls all around the globe. and i have been clear that human rights will be the center of our foreign policy, but the way to do that is not through endless military deployments, but throu gh diplomacy, economic tools, and rallying the rest of the world for support. my fellow americans, the war in afghanistan is now over. i'm the fourth president who has faced the issue of whether and when to end this war. when i was running for president, i made a commitment to the american people that i would end this war. today, i have honored that commitment. it was time to be honest with the american people again. we no longer had a clear purpose in an open-ended mission

in afghanistan. after 20 years of war in afghanistan, i refused to send another generation of america's sons and daughters to fight a war that should have ended long ago. after more than $2 trillion spent in afghanistan, a cost researchers at brown university estimated would be over $300 million a day for 20 years in afghanistan, for two decades. yes, the american people need to hear this. $300 million a day for two decades. you take the number of $1 trillion as many say, that is still $150 million a day for two decades. and what have we lost as a consequence in terms of opportunity? i refused to continue a war that was no longer in service of the vital national interest of our people. and most of all, after 800,000

americans serving in afghanistan have traveled that whole country, brave and honorable service, after 27,430 injured, and the loss of -- including 13 lives lost just this week. i refused to open another decade of war in afghanistan. we've been a nation too long at war. if you are 20 years old today, you have never known an america at peace. so when i hear that we could have, should have, continued the so-called low-grade effort in afghanistan, at low risk to our service members, at low cost, i do not think enough people understand how much we have asked of the 1% of this country who put that uniform on, who are

willing to put their lives on the line in defense of our nation. maybe it is because my deceased son beau who served in iraq for a full year. before that, well. maybe it's because of what i have seen over the years as senator, vice president, and president, traveling these countries. a lot of our veterans and their families have gone through help. l. deployment after deployment. months and years away from their families. missed birthdays, anniversaries, empty chairs at holidays. financial struggles. divorces. loss of limbs. traumatic brain injury. post-traumatic stress. we see it in the struggles many have when they come home. we see it in the strain on their

families and caregivers. we see it in the strain of their families when they are not there. we see it in the brief bourne by their survivors. the cost of war, they will carry with them their whole lives. most tragically, we see in the shocking and stunning statistic that should give pause to anyone who thinks war can ever be low-grade, low risk, or low-cost. 18 veterans on average who died by suicide every single day in america -- not in a far-off place, right here in america. there's nothing low-grade or low-risk or low-cost about any war. it is time to end the war in afghanistan.

as we closed 20 years of war and pain and strife and sacrifice, it is time to look to the future, not the past. to a future that is safer. to a future that is more secure. to a future that honors those who served and all those gave -- those who gave what president lincoln called their last full measure of devotion. i give you my word with all of my hrt. i believe this is the right decision. a wise decision. and the best decision for america. thank you. thank you, and may god bless you all, and may god protect our troops. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2021] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its >> s

of staff chair mark milley will hold a briefing on wednesday to discuss the end of the u.s. military mission in afghanistan. live coverage starts at 1:00 p.m. eastern. >> sunday night onto monday, a conversation with susan page about her biography madame speaker, the life and political career of nancy pelosi. >> not many people knew this but she was planning once hillary clinton was elected, nancy pelosi was making plans to step down. she was 76 years old, she had

nine grandchildren. that election night was a shock for her and so many others. she said once she realized donald trump is to win the election, it was like a mule was kicking her. physically. she did not say that metaphorically. by the end of that night she decided she was not going anywhere, she would stay and stand up to donald trump and protect democratic priorities including the affordable care act. >> susan page, on c-span ski one day. you can also find all interviews wherever you get your podcasts. >> c-spanshop.org is c-span's online store. browse to see what is new. your purpose will support our nonprofit operations and you still have time to order the congressional directory.

go to c-spanshop.org. >> lawmakers from the freedom caucus held a news conference on afghanistan to urge speaker pelosi to call the house back into session.